Cairo, MO.
The town of Cairo sits at the southern tip of Illinois, stuck in between Missouri and Kentucky. The town has seen a huge decline in population and industry in recent years, with things getting so bad that the mayor supposedly told graduating high schoolers to get out of town. Most of the historic downtown is decaying and in a nearly ghost-town state, many buildings being owned by the city and for sale in an effort to collect back taxes. Other abandonments around town include a large empty hospital, an abandoned grain elevator, empty churches and mansions, and a large vacant factory. Suburbs such as Future City are in the same condition, without much activity remaining to sustain them.
Downtown Cairo could pass for a 1950s ghost town. The theater, general
stores, banks, and other buildings all sit empty, with maybe 2 open stores
on the entire main street.
The abandoned hospital is probably the 2nd largest empty building
in town, with several wings and 5 floors of rusty medical equipment, rotting
patient records, and decaying furniture.
Other structures around town include an abandoned church, empty
schools and mansions, and the land of moldy prescription drugs. Just lick
the floors for a magical mystery trip.
An active caboose we found sitting on a siding near Future City.
It looks abandoned, but the airbrakes were charged up and a work crew was
nearby.